AIRLINES
Tigerair unveils new routes
Tigerair Taiwan (台灣虎航) yesterday announced new flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Macau, Sendai, Japan, and Daegu, South Korea, to meet rising demand during the peak year-end holiday season. In response to Macau’s rising popularity, more flights are to be added on top of 52 weekly flights, the budget subsidiary of China Airlines (中華航空) said. The new flights are to be offered throughout Christmas this year and the Lunar New Year holiday next year, Tigerair said. It said that Daegu is renowned for its autumn leaves, while Sendai is its first destination in Japan’s northeast, from which visitors can easily access nearby cities such as Tokyo.
BANKING
CDIC to factor in security
The government-run Central Deposit Insurance Corp (CDIC, 中央存款保險公司) yesterday said that it would in two years begin to factor in information security into premiums and fees it charges banks. The announcement comes in the aftermath of an automated teller machine heist at state-run First Commercial Bank (第一銀行). CDIC charges insurance fees on banks’ deposits based on their risk profile.
BANKING
Mega Financial ratings hold
Taiwan Ratings Corp (中華信評) yesterday said its ratings of “twAA+” and “twA-1+” for Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) would remain unchanged after US regulators ordered the state-run company to pay a massive fine for violations of money laundering regulations by its New York banking branch. Given its profitability, Mega Financial would be able to withstand the US$180 million fine, the credit agency said, adding that the amount is equivalent to one-quarter of the company’s profits last year. The company, which leads its domestic peers in overseas presence, should be able to improve its regulatory compliance overseas as it continues to expand abroad, the agency said. However, the latest credit evaluation has not been finalized, and the final decision will require the approval of internal committees, the agency said.
TELECOMS
APT launches maintenance
Asia Pacific Telecom Co (APT, 亞太電信), a telecom arm of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday launched handset maintenance services for a minimum flat rate of NT$98. The charge is to vary in accordance with subscribers’ devices. To receive the service, subscribers must pay a maximum fee of NT$258 per month for an iPhone 6S. The service is to carry a two-year service contract. During the two-year period, if a subscriber’s smartphone is damaged beyond repair, they can receive a new replacement at a significant discount from retail prices.
ENTERTAINMENT
XPEC shares tumble 9.95%
Game developer XPEC Entertainment Inc’s (樂陞科技) shares yesterday plunged 9.95 percent to NT$89.6 amid concerns on the delayed payment of NT$4.86 billion (US$152.7 million) from a public tender offer initiated by a peer. Bai Chi Gan Tou Digital Entertainment Co (百尺竿頭數位娛樂) in June announced plans to acquire a 25.71 percent stake in XPEC by purchasing 30 million common shares at NT$128 per share. Investors with more than 60 million XPEC shares have heeded Bai Chi Gan Tou’s public tender offer, exceeding the Japanese company’s share acquisition target by 60.5 percent. Bai Chi Gan Tou yesterday announced that the public tender offer period has been extended by five business days, with the deal to conclude on Aug. 31.
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
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